A heartwarming story has emerged from the current Golden Textures Contemporary Art Quilt Award exhibition, currently on display at the Central Goldfields Art Gallery in Maryborough.
The exhibition showcases contemporary art quilts from around Australia, but there is one quilt on display that holds special significance to the Central Goldfields Shire, in particular the people of Carisbrook.
It is a quilt that represents the determination of a local quilter’s group, in response to the 2011 flood, to show love and support to their distressed community.
Deep Creek Stitches are a Carisbrook based quilters group. Although far smaller in numbers now, due to the average age of its members, they are a powerful collective of dynamic, generous women who were inspired to show their community that someone
cared.
They committed to a vision; to gift every flood affected household with a handmade quilt – and quite remarkably, they achieved just that.
The group put a call out to quilters from all over Australia and worldwide, seeking donations to fulfil their vision. The response was extraordinary, and tens of thousands of quilter’s blocks came streaming in from across the globe, resulting in the making and distribution of over 360 quilts.
Since then, they have further gifted over 250 quilts for fundraising, as well as to nursing homes, hospitals, and for families fleeing domestic violence.
Central Goldfields Shire Mayor Cr Grace La Vella said the story of the Deep Creek Stitches Group is nothing short of heartwarming.
“This wonderful group of quilters have achieved so much yet remain so humble in the face of their achievements. A story like theirs keeps hope alive and reflects the good will and resilience of the people of Carisbrook.
“We pay tribute to the huge effort required by the group to achieve their goal. We thank them for their ongoing generosity as they continue to make and gift quilts to the vulnerable both locally and in surrounding communities.”
Central Goldfields Shire Community Recovery Officer Emilie Byrne said resilient communities are those that support each other, particularly in the face of disaster.
“I’ve heard numerous stories of courage and generosity in response to flooding inCentral Goldfields. This group’s response to the suffering of their community is a heartwarming example of it.”
Deep Creek Stiches member Wilma Ladigessaid it was an amazing time in our lives when we look back.
“Being as close to it as we all were, and most of us experiencing flood damageourselves, it was devastating. We thought – we’ve got to do something here.
“The support was wonderful, it snowballed, it was just amazing – and it kept us from thinking about things because most of us were affected or had people that were affected, it gave us something to take our minds off it.
“We still think about it and talk about it from time to time.”
Everyone is invited to view the Golden Textures Contemporary Art Quilt Award exhibition, and to see firsthand the Deep Creek Stitches Groups’ quilt. The quilts are on display at the Central Goldfields Art Gallery until 20 August 2023.
